ZECO TRAVEL TALK

What a great day! Greg Homel kicked off the morning by providing insights about the little known and seldom seen birds of the Darien. After an early lunch we boarded a flotilla of local boats—modified dugouts, in fact—for an hour long ride to the coast and up the winding Mogue River. Our drivers swept from side-to-side on the broader areas to facilitate photography as we rode the incoming tide. The tide is critical to access the upper reaches. Soon it narrowed and we could hear the drums of the Chocó Emberá as we were rounding the final bend. Waiting for us were many of the villagers in traditional dress, including musicians and a gaggle of children who were shy, but curious and who quickly took us by the hand for the walk along the path to their home. They speak Spanish as a second tongue, but smiles went miles and language provided no barrier. Read more

While the Great Blue Hole and extensive reef system are the main attraction for many, our river trip to the Mayan ruins of Lamanai was definitely the highlight while in Belize, due in large part to our enthusiastic and humorous local guides. Along the way, they pointed out limpkins, laughing falcons, Wish Willy iguanas, Jabiru storks, and the Belizean provision tree (its bark is highly regarded as a blood tonic and is used to help anemia, low blood pressure, and fatigue). They also taught us local proverbs; a favorite was: Read more

Dr. Jack Grove, Zegrahm Expeditions’ cofounder and expedition leader, recently contributed to a report that outlines how climate change, overfishing, and tourism have negatively impacted the Galapagos Islands’ delicate ecosystem. In just a few decades, 45 Galapagos species are thought to have already disappeared or are teetering on the verge of extinction. The report was originally published in the scientific journal, Global Change Biology, and has been picked up by BBC News and circulated by Metropolitan Touring in Quito, Ecuador, among other news sources. Read the full text from the BBC article.

In addition to Jack’s work on this ground-breaking white paper, he also contributed to Tui De Roy’s, Galapagos: Preserving Darwin’s Legacy. This book is an authoritative, up-to-date survey from a variety of authors and researchers on the natural history, ecology and conservation of the Galapagos. Read the book review here. Read more

Zegrahm Expeditions Program Manager and wildlife enthusiast, Ted Kenefick, recently traveled to Brazil’s Pantanal: read his “report from the field” below.

Pantanal. The rough translation from Portuguese to English is less than romantic— “swampland.” To me, Pantanal means—magic. I had traveled to the region several years ago and as I concluded my trip and passed underneath the sign marking the start of the Transpantaneira Road and the entrance to the Brazilian Pantanal, I vowed to return.

In October of 2009, I made the return trip. As I write on a rainy autumn evening in Seattle, my thoughts drift south, far south to this place of miraculous sunsets, vistas of open space stretching to all horizons, and a myriad of wildlife. Surely a visit to the Pantanal is one of the greatest natural history experiences of the Western Hemisphere, perhaps even on the entire planet, but somehow knowledge of this place seems to have “flown under the radar.” Read more

At Zegrahm we believe that through travel comes awareness, and that awareness is what ultimately leads to viable solutions, which is why we are thrilled to partner with Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on our upcoming Rain Forests & Reefs expedition. Both organizations are recognized for their work in preserving and conserving natural resources and cultural heritage for future generations to enjoy. Read more

Our Eco-Expedition, Best of Brazil, has just come to an end, and our intrepid travelers crisscrossed southern Brazil in search of some of the very best wildlife the country has to offer. With an active team of gung-ho wildlife spotters, this year’s group tallied more than 300 species of birds and an astonishing 32 species of mammals (and that is not counting several unidentified species of bats). Stars of the show were marmosets, howlers, capuchins, and muriqui among the various primates, and great sightings of four Brazilian tapir, six giant anteaters (including two carrying babies), and eight giant otters. But the icing on the wildlife cake was a prolonged sighting of a fine male jaguar on the banks of the Cuiaba River—an eleventh hour success just before sunset in the Pantanal.

Expedition Leader, Mark Brazil, is already looking forward to returning to Brazil again in 2010. If you enjoy watching birds and mammals, or would like to experience the amazing biodiversity of the neotropics, why not join him on our departure in September 2010?

By Kevin Clement
(with apologies to Robert Service)

There are strange things done in the Midnight sun
And one of those was our trip
Through Alaska Wild, but in highest style
On the Clipper Odyssey ship.

And so we set sail, no need to bail
Our ship was tight and well-found
From distant Nome, the far-northern home
Of the gold-diggers of Norton Sound.

And in a short time, we reached the Line
Where the Arctic Sea truly does start
With water so frigid, the swimmers went rigid
Well, except for certain parts. Read more

After a morning visit to the port of Dutch Harbor, our captain navigated the Clipper Odyssey towards the pass between Akutan and Unalaska Islands, our passage from the Bering Sea into the North Pacific. The upwelling of cold nutrient-rich water around the Aleutian Islands is legendary, and its productivity was evidenced by the huge flocks of birds swarming around the ship. Read more